Did you catch Monday's blog about this month's Classic Author feature, Don H's Working It Out? Don't miss out on some of the reviews and download your copy of the signature graphic so you can share your love of the story. If you did read Monday's blog but aren't quite convinced, maybe Myr's reasons for sharing this story and excerpt will sway you into reading it right away! And don't forget to leave a star rating and story review when you're done!!

Myr said: 

Don Haratty's "Working it Out" has long been a favorite of mine.  It started in 1999 and was going strong when I started Gay Authors, so he was one of the first authors I recruited here.  In reviewing the text for the blurb, I once again got sucked into the story.  I'm not really sure what it is.  The quirky humor? The appeal to a better nature?  The vivid physicality of the writing?  The Faith?

I guess in the end for me it has to be that feeling of striving to be better that the characters exhibit.  There is a religious element in the story too, that should, at least, provoke thought and that is something that appeals to my inner nerd.  It has been my experience in life that everyone needs to embrace a concept that is bigger than oneself.  For many years and in many places, people have embraced religion.  Gays in general seem to have wholesale rejected this aspect, but it may not be necessarily so.  This story does a good job of showing that without being preachy about it. 

This story hooked me right from the get go.  Read a chapter or two and see if it does the same for you.

The two roomies settled down into a comfortable routine over the next two weeks.  They had a few of the basic freshman liberal arts classes together during this first semester before more advanced classes in their respective majors kicked in.  Matt was pre-law, and Mike was pre-med.

After classes, in the late afternoon, Matt worked out with the wrestling team and Mike with the swim team.  Between athletics and their studies, there wasn't a lot of time for socializing, but they usually talked for a while before bed about their courses, complained about their professors and dorm food, and compared notes on the pretty girls in their classes.

They found out they had a lot in common.  Both came from well-to-do, upper-upper middle class families, both had a younger brother and sister, both of them had been jock heroes in their high school days, and--this blew Mike's mind--they both loved motorcycles.  Each of them owned a Honda CBR 900, as a matter of fact, and shared "a need for speed."  Their lament was that they couldn't have their bikes at school during their freshman year.

They were very popular with their teammates on the wrestling and swim teams, and there were always a lot of guys and even a few girls wandering in and out of their room at odd moments.

Matt was a pretty good Episcopalian, and Mike a casual Roman Catholic, so on their first Sunday in residence, Matt talked Mike into going to mass at the Canterbury Center, with the promise that he would go to mass at the Newman Center with Mike the next week.  Mike received communion at Canterbury, and on the way back to the dorm Matt kidded him,  "Mikey, the Pope is really pissed off at you now!" and they had a good laugh.

As the days passed, Mike realized that Matt was as beautiful a person on the inside as he was on the outside.  Mike just didn't see any flaws in this guy at all--he seemed honest, hardworking, serious about the serious things, but with a killer sense of humor and an infectious laugh.  And he was very laid back and easy to get along with.  He was also very demonstative, and was constantly pulling pranks.  He thought nothing of grabbing Mike around the neck and giving him nuggies, or putting him in a full Nelson and letting him struggle vainly to get away, or when they were sitting around in their underwear, snapping the waistband of Mike's boxers, and telling him, when he jumped, that he needed to learn how to relax.  When Mike retaliated on occasion, his only assets were speed and dexterity.  Matt couldn't catch him in a flat-out run down the hall, and Mike was slippery as an eel when cornered.  Once Matt had his hands on him, though, it was all over.

To read more, check out the rest of the story here: